I Need a Change

Chicken cordon bleu--

Beat the chicken until fairly thin. Put 1 piece of swiss and one piece of ham on top. Roll it up, and dip in beaten egg. Roll it in crushed ritz crackers. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until cooked through. SOOOOOOO GOOD!! Easy too.

spam casserole

potatoes (for family of 6 I use about 8 or 9)
can of cream of mushroom soup
can of cheddar soup or chunks of cheese, diced or packet of cheese powder
1/2 c. milk
can of peas, drained or small bag of frozen peas

cut up potatoes & boil like you would to make mashed potatoes (til tender). drain & put into a baking dish, add in cream of mushroom soup, peas, milk, cheese and stir. top with sliced spam. bake in oven at 400F for 15 minutes.

One meal that my family really likes is Chicken and stuffing bake. Now I don't measure things so bear with me.
Take 6 chicken breasts and put them into a baking dish. On top put a slice of swiss cheese (I don't always keep the cheese on hand so it is good without it as well). Next take a can of cream of chicken soup and spread it on top. Now take stove top stuffing and pour it over the top of everything. I would say that I use about 1/2 of the large size container of stove top. In a seperate dish melt one stick of margarine and pour over the top of the stuffing. Now bake for an hour or so at around 350 degree oven. I do not cover my dish. We like the stuffing to be kind of crunchy.

Here's a quick and easy recipe that we love!

Chicken & cheesy broccoli rice
(I don't measure anything for this, so that's why there are no measurements!)

boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins
instant rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
frozen broccoli
milk

Preheat oven to 375. Place chicken in a baking dish. In a bowl mix soup with milk to thin a bit (but not runny). Pour enough soup mixture to just cover chicken. Bake until chicken is done (time will vary depending on size and aound of chicken). Boil water for rice (using direction on rice package). After water is boiling, add rice and broccoli, and finishing cooking per directions. After rice is cooked, add remaining soup mixture. All done! I have also used cheddar cheese soup with good results, but I like the flavor of the cream of chicken best. You can also substitute pretty much any vegetable you like for the broccoli. Add a salad and dinner's served!

Also, I have found that Wishbone Italian salad dressing is an awesome marinade for baked chicken, it's super easy and a fresh flavor.

We also like bean burritos, again super easy and quick:

1 can refried beans
salsa
taco sauce (I'm partial to Ortega's mild sauce, but you can use whatever you like best)

Mix beans, salsa and taco sauce to taste in pot on stove to heat through. We like ours with just shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream, but you can add any toppings you like!

You can also get the Tyson chicken strips for fajitas...just cut 1 medium onion into wedges, 1 green pepper into strips, saute in veg oil, add chicken (you cann add it frozen because it's pre-cooked) & packet of fajita seasoning. Quick and easy!

Try www.allrecipes.com for some good recipes, and I second www.kraftfoods.com...definitely sign up for Food & Family magazine! I have a lot more recipes, so if you're interested, PM me and I'll send you some more.

Hope this helps!
M.

I know it's been a while since you posted this, but I just saw it and thought you would enjoy a wonderful recipe I have for chicken noodle casserole. It's not the healthiest thing and takes a while to cook, but is well worth it:

CHICKEN NOODLE CASSEROLE

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups cubed chicken (I get the precooked strips so all you have to do is put it in the microwave, you can also get boneless breast and boil it and cut it into cubes)
1/2 cup banana peppers (you can also substitute other vegetables, the original recipe called for onions, green peppers, and sweet red peppers 1/4 cup of each but we don't eat those so we put in what we like)
1 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
1 cup sharp chedder cheese, shredded
(an idea with the cheese is to get the mexican mix or pizza mix and put one bag in mix and one bag on top of casserole after baking)
12 ounces (1 bag) medium egg noodles, cooked and drained

Preheat: oven to 350
mix: soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, chicken, peppers, 1/2 of the monteray jack cheese, 1/2 of the chedder cheese
add: noodles (add gradually, it mixes easier)
if needed: if noodles aren't coated as much as you want, add more mayonnaise
put in greased baking dish (oblong cake pan works fine)
Bake: uncovered at 350 for 30-35 minutes
Add: sprinkle other half of both cheeses on top of casserol and return to oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted

It is a lot, but once you make it a couple time it gets easy.
It's also good with sweet cornbread!!!
Enjoy!
A.

K.,

Kraft Magazine online has wonderful recipes, simple easy, and kid friendly. Plus they will send you a magazine once a month and it is free. Can't beat that.

Now I do have a really simple recipe for you though.

I call it Lazy Ones Casserole
My kids love it!!

Take a lb of ground beef/turkey brown it, add a can of corn(drained)a can of potatoe soup, a can of tomato soup, a dash of worstershire sauce, and let simmer for about 5 minutes.Make sure it is hot all the way through.
Then place it in a casserole dish, then place biscuits on top, bake for 10 -12 minutes then add shredded cheese on top and bake until melted.

This is so easy and good, my kids ask for it all the time. I use turkey because it is less fatening, but either works just as well.

Goodluck.

Here's a few I like:

Cheese Dip
Brown ground beef.
Melt one box of Velveeta cheese (block).
Mix together and add one can of Rotel (chopped tomatoes with peppers).
Use white corn chips to dip and eat.

Pork Chops Supreme (Thank you Betty Crocker)
Heat oven to 350. Trim excess fat from pork chops (1" thick). Place chops in baking pan or dish. Salt well. Top each chop with a lemon slice and thin onion slice; sprinkle generously with brown sugar. Pour 1 tbsp. catsup over each chop. Cover and bake 1 hr. Uncover and bake 30 min. longer, basting occasionally.

Meat Loaf (Betty Crocker)
Heat over to 350. Mix 1 lb. ground beef; 1 1/2 medium slices soft bread torn in pieces and 1/2 cup milk (or 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs and 2/3 cup milk); 1 beaten egg; 2 tbsp. minced onion; 1/2 tsp. salt; 1/8 tsp each pepper, dry mustard (mustard powder), and garlic salt; and 1 1/2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce. Shape into 2 loaves in shallow baking pan. Spread with catsup or your favorite barbecue sauce. Bake 1 hr. until done.

Peanut Butter (or Swiss cheese) Chicken Stir-fry
Brown chicken in olive oil in wok or large frying pan. While browning, sprinkle with paprika and soy sauce. When chicken is fairly cooked, throw in 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 2-3 tbsp. butter. You can also add sliced carrots or broccoli. After onion gets glossy and carrots soft, add more soy sauce and white cooking wine. Add 2 tablespoonse peanut butter (I like chunky). In addition to or as a substitute, add several slices or a medium chunk of swiss cheese. I also like to add fenugreek seeds (very good for controlling blood sugar). Lastly, add mandarin oranges or pineapple chunks. To use the sauce like gravy, add corn starch and stir. This is good served on rice or chow mein noodles. I don't really measure much, but it always turns out tasting good.

Good luck! I'm so glad to see what other people make, too. As much as we like Digiorno pizza, once a week is plenty.

Here are some of my fav's to cook. Hope it helps! I completely understand!
Chicken & Dumplings:
2 cans grands butter tastin biscuits
2 cans chicken broth
1 pkg tyson (or whatever) breast tenderloins
Cover chicken with water and boil. cut up chicken when complete, add the 2 cans of chicken broth to the water w/chicken, flatten and tear apart the biscuits. Add them to the pot. salt and pepper to taste, cook for about 10-15 more minutes.
Also, you could try baked spaghetti. Just cook spaghetti like you normally would and then mix it up, put in a baking dish with mozzarella cheese and pepperonis if you like. Bake for about 30 minutes.
Good Luck!

K. try this one~dazzle your family with your culinary skills~even if you don't have any :)

Baked Salmon

Preheat your oven to 400.

to prepare the salmon(buy the kind that still has the scales on) just drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle a garlic and herb seasoning blend(not too much, it will overwhelm the fish)

Thats it~then pop it in your oven for 15-20 minutes
when it "flakes" with a fork it is finished.

Then to go with it just steam some veggies and maybe bake some cresent rolls

My crew loves this and it really seems so much harder than it is. I couldn't tell you how many times I have made this for friends or family and knocked their socks off with it. And I am not a great cook either :P I can pretend I am though!!

This goes great with a nice red wine too

Good luck!!

Y.

Goulash:

1 can red beans (can substitute pinto)
1 can kidney beans (dark or light doesn't matter)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 large can stewed tomatoes - rinse can with water and toss in (the water not the can...hee hee)
1 lb hamburger
1 box elbow mac
4 1" cubes velveeta cheese (optional - makes it creamy)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook hamburger in a large soup pot or dutch oven. Drain grease. Add tomatoes and beans (do not rinse the beans - pour juice in and all). Rinse can of tomatoes and toss water in.
Stir and cook to boiling. Add elbow mac. Cover and simmer until noodles are al dente. Add cubes velveeta and stir until they are all melted.

My family has this at least once every two weeks. The leftovers are WONDERFUL and we eat it for a week aftewards!

YUMMO!

I was having the same issues! Chicken, pasta, same thing different way every night. I went out specifically and bought a roast, cubed steaks, fish (Frozen Grilled Lemon pepper and fish sticks for the kids). There is a White Chili out there that you use chicken instead of hamburger, a hamburger and velvetta soup. You can also do just beef enchiladas or bean and beef, or chicken. There is also a mexican pizza you make for torillas. Also, I love Bisquick because you can make so many different things with it. There are recipes on the back of the box as well as online. You can use it as a main ingredient or as a breading. Check it out! I have three boys, two of which eat table food. Only one eats meat so I usually make skinny noodles for the other one, reheat a leftover, or cook a corndog. Go to the grocery store looking for something different and you will see it. Good luck!

I hate cooking! But I love recipes from cookinglight.com and Rachael Ray. Just go online and do some searching and you'll come up with something tasty!

my sister inlaw told me about this place in lexington called entre vu...you can find it on-line. you just pick out what you recipe you want, go to that place and they have all the ingredients portioned out and all you do assemble it and take it home and freeze it for later or prepare it. she made 6 huge caseroles for a like $120. they feed 4-6 people. she said it was great.

Hi K.:

If you have a crockpot, I live on mine,, set and just about forget it..

Pot roast,
in the morning put the roast in the pot on low, with 2 cups of water and a package of Onion soup mix, you can add the carrots and potatoes if you want, I make mashed potatoes so I do that in the evening just before dinner, so cook on low for 8 hours..

Another one in the crock pot is Sweet and sour Kilbasa
you can do this either way,

Slice the kilbasa,
I boil the kilbasa first removes alot of extras fat and greese.
put in Crockpot, I use one bottle of honey BBQ sauce.
Pinapple chunks in the juice add the whole can to the crock pot, a envelope of Onion soup mix, and about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of vinagear, I normally just pour some in the BBQ sauce bottle and shake to get the excess and pour it in

Cook on low for about 6 hours
or high for 3

good luck

I hate cooking anything twice - once I've mastered it. My favorite site is Foodnetwork.com. You can find a recipe for anything there...from any ethnicity. You can type in a search for any entree, or a list of ingredients that you happen to have on hand and the engine will usually produce several recipes, if not more. I typically do the latter, which also allows me to purchase whatever meat is on sale that week without a clear cut plan, and yet produce a great dish! Some of our favorites are bacon flank steak spinach wraps, coconut chicken curry, different roast recipes, and rich soups. The best part is, the recipes are ranked by difficulty so you can produce a great meal without an incredible effort, or years of experience. Cooking from scratch does take time tho...

Good Luck!!

Here's a quick and easy recipe. Mushroom Gravy Cube Steak! My family loves it.

Get the amount of cube steaks that you need. Buy some flour that is always near shake n bake called Kentucky Seasoned Flour (it works great for anything that you'd normally put flour on except sweets). Put the flour on a plate or in a bag and coat both sides of the cube steak. Put a little oil in a pan and brown both sides of the cube steaks on medium. As soon as they're browned lightly, add enough water to the pan to barely cover the cube steaks. Cover with a lid and cook on low for an hour (this makes the cube steak very tender). Add a thing of mushroom gravy or whatever gravy that you like to the pan (you don't need to drain the water usually because the flour makes it into a mild gravy (I usually will add a couple of sprinkles of flour as the cube steaks are cooking in the water). Wait until everything is heated up and serve. I usually make mashed potatoes with this because of the gravy. It's great.

K., my best advice to you is to buy the better homes and gardens cookbook. I got one for a wedding present back in 2000 and it is wonderful. I have gone from burning water to making crisp golden beautiful pancakes from scratch. Anything you need to know is in there. Measurements, recipes from salads to roast duck! Not to mention desserts and breakfast. It's an investment you're sure to keep handy for years to come! :)